The Beard played with purpose and without fear in what was, along with his 23-point outing Nov. 20 in Milwaukee with Kevin Durant on the bench, one of his signature performances of the season for him thus far. Harden played decisively on both ends of the floor, moved the ball, maintained a good energy level in a blowout and provided the scoring punch off the bench that Oklahoma City sorely needs.

In short, Harden played like the guy the Thunder thought it was getting at the No. 3 spot in the 2009 NBA Draft, and he did it within the current role he has on the team. And, perhaps not coincidentally, Oklahoma City finally had the laugher win over a bad team that contending squads are supposed to have often.

Harden’s stat line stands out: 6-8 shooting, including 2-3 from behind the arc. Three assists against one turnover. Twenty-one minutes. Three dimes and three boards for good measure. He can’t be expected to shoot percentages quite that high on a nightly basis, but the way he played, and the way Oklahoma City played with him, makes you think that the player everyone hopes he can be could be a little closer to appearing on a more regular basis.

It was just one game. And there have been others at least close to it — the aforementioned Milwaukee game and his 14 points on 50 percent shooting against the Spurs in a loss on Nov. 14 come to mind. But this was the first in a win and with Harden as the sixth man. And it wasn’t just what he did, but how he did it.

Take the dunk on Hickson as the first and best example. I had a good angle on the run he made from where I sat Sunday behind the basket where he collected the defensive rebound to begin the play. He corralled the shot and immediately put the ball on the floor. All five Cavs were further north on the court than he was, but he had a more-or-less direct path to the basket as long as he stayed on the left hand side. It seemed to be a slow-developing drive, even though he was basically sprinting up the court. There was plenty of time for me to think. Hey, we’ve got a break here. He should keep driving. He’s got a chance to take this to the hole. Keep going, James, I like the aggressiveness. I think he might dunk it. Hey, he IS going to dunk it. OH MY GOODNESS I AM STANDING AND YELLING BECAUSE THAT JUST HAPPENED.

There was never a doubt. He knew what he was going to do the entire time, and he did it. And it carried over through the rest of the game, despite the fact he missed the and-one free throw. Almost every single time he touched the ball from there on out, he did the right thing and did it without thinking, just like Scott Brooks has been begging him to do as the season has unfolded. It showed on both sides of the floor as well — after he hit a 3-point shot soon after the dunk, he got an almost-steal on the other end on the ensuing Cleveland possession. He was clearly locked in.

This would seem to be the perfect time for Harden and the rest of the team to get in some reps playing the game the way Brooks and everyone else wants them to play. The rest of the month features games against the relatively soft Rockets, Kings, Suns Bobcats and Nets among contests against more-worthy opponents in the Knicks (who have fattened up with an easy schedule), Mavericks, Hawks and Nuggets. There’s some time to fine-tune some things and get on a little bit of a roll heading into January, which is packed with eight games against playoff contenders.

The Thunder fan base is collectively begging Harden at this point to keep playing the way he did Sunday. (And for Durant, who scored 25 points on 10-17 shooting, to do the same.) It just might be possible with that relatively easy schedule through New Year’s. It’s an opportunity to instill more confidence in Harden during the part of the season where it’s still silly to worry about playoff seeding or anything else other than playing complete games and staying healthy.

Sure, the Cavs are pretty bad. They’ve now lost eight straight overall and eight straight on the road and were on the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday. But it cannot be overstated that it was the first time Oklahoma City played like a contender matched up against a cellar dweller, and one of the first times in the young season that Harden played like the high lottery pick he was.

Maynor getting the ball to harden late is not the reason he is not better. That is a sorry excuse. U think ray Allen or Paul Pierce say that. Hell no. They knock that shit down. Plus when maynor gets him the ball he hesitates or gives it back. Maynor is more consistant. If Brooks would make him the scorer, he would be a lot better then harden at this point.

@kfmsoonerjap, NC is Nick Collison, I assume Nenad will be gone after this year. I got your point, but is he really a much better shooter than Serge has been in resent games? not so shure... tried to find some shooting splits but couldn't find them....

blade_ :Justin, do I get all your points? Starting Harden an getting rid of Thabo is the key for the Thunder in order to win, right?But again, why is it so important for Harden to start? Just because a “Nr 3 Pick coming off the bench and killing the other teams second unit” is a bust? C’mon… Harden isn’t playing out of position if hes playing SG on the second unit, Green starting at PF is out of position!So imagine this:RW TS KD SI AnykindofgoodCEM JH JG NK CAWouldn’t this be a good, balanced team?

I assume NK is Nick Collison? Or is that NoNads? If we trade for a Center, which is your scenario, NoNads is probably dealt as an expiring contract, and Nick will certainly be part of the rotation.

If Ibaka moves to the starting PF role, which he should, and NoNads is out of the lineup, which we hope will happen soon, then floor spacing becomes an issue. Who will be any kind of threat to shoot from deep? Ibaka is good to about 17 feet, but that's about it. In that scenario, I think Harden has to start. Otherwise, Russ and KD will see 5 defensive players in the lane on every drive and teams will absolutely dare us to shoot 3's. They basically do that now. I'd love to see Ibaka starting, but Harden would have to start as well.

John :As of right now I don’t think that Jimbo should start necessarily, but I would like to see an increase in minutes.LA Fowler, how have you not seen James Harden save games for us? Did you see game 3 of the playoffs? His threes were crucial since the thunder could not score on the inside against the Lakers.

Sorry let me rephrase.. Thabos defense have saved many games. JH has done plenty on offense and some on defense, I like the guy I just dont want to mess up the balance of Offensive and defensive players on the court at any given time.

I’ll admit that Thabo is liability on our offense at the moment. Will that change once Brooks implements more of an offense? Perhaps? Preferably I’d like to see an offense that takes advantage of Thabo’s offensive strengths (such as slashing). Harden could maintain a Manu role off the bench or he could start. It really doesn’t matter to me. I just want to see Thabo used in a role that plays to his strong points.

Justin, do I get all your points? Starting Harden an getting rid of Thabo is the key for the Thunder in order to win, right?But again, why is it so important for Harden to start? Just because a "Nr 3 Pick coming off the bench and killing the other teams second unit" is a bust? C'mon... Harden isn't playing out of position if hes playing SG on the second unit, Green starting at PF is out of position!So imagine this:RW TS KD SI AnykindofgoodCEM JH JG NK CAWouldn't this be a good, balanced team?

@justinIt's all apart of the organization's "slowly, but surely" strategy. Harden will start, in time. Westbrook was thrown into the wolves because we had no other option there - Earl the Pearl was nowhere near apart of the future. Whereas Thabo has established his position and role on the team, it's just taking Harden a bit to fully overtake him. And I assume we won't see Harden in the starting lineup until next season.

The frontcourt is a much bigger issue to me. We'll see how much the organization is concerned with winning THIS YEAR come the trade deadline. If Krstic is still our starting center at that point, then clearly we aren't too concerned with winning this year.

I don't think anyone's trying to take anything away from what Thabo's good at. He's a good defensive player.

But it's hard for our offense to function against well coached defensive teams with Thabo in the starting lineup. He's compared to other defensive standouts on good teams, i.e. Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest - but he's not as good a defender as those guys, and he generally contributes less on offense. If Thabo could do anything consistently well on the offensive end I don't think anyone would be complaining. Bruce Bowen did one thing, and only one thing on offense and he was able to make a career out of it. Thabo doesn't even have that.

And the fact of the matter is that Thabo is what he is. We have a young player we drafted number three overall who is far more talented than our starting SG. He can be effective on both sides of the ball. James Harden should have been starting last year after the All Star break when he got healthy. He was playing very well, the defense had come down to Earth a bit (Thabo included), and most of our games were played thinking, "man, when do the subs come in?". This season it's a little bit less of an issue with Russell Westbrook contributing so much more offensively, but it's still an issue.

It's the kind of philosophy that permeates this team. They don't play their best players at their best positions consistently. Ibaka and Harden are much more likely the future at PF and SG than Green and Thabo (at least, if the team wants to win). I don't know what Brooks is waiting for, but I think his inaction last year and after this preseason (where Harden was excellent) has slowed down the progress that Harden had been making.

The team will take another step forward this year - winning a playoff series, possibly 2 - and then next season will commence the "championship contention" run. We'll have a new center, Ibaka at PF, and Harden at SG. I can't wait.

But for now, this starting lineup is sticking and that's fine with me. Until then, let's enjoy another fun and exciting season from these young pups, as they continue to amaze us.

Its funny as much as people yell about how bad Thunder players are and how much they wish they would Trade Thabo/ Green/ Maynor/ Ibaka / Krstic all the time. For once someone defends a key person to the team and the whole board gets upset... you all are some funny fans.

I'm not going to break down your other posts and tell you how to talk or be respectful. You're allowed to disagree, but don't be a jerk about it. Treat the rest of us like you would if we were in the room with you.

LOL Why does everyone think Im talking down to Dan? If Dan hasnt seen how Thabo has help then he just hasnt paid attention thats just a fact. My big defense of Thabo came from an earlier post when someone called him a "Bum Ass" and Dan just happen to start commenting after I responded to that person.

My point is Ive seen Thabo save games for the Thunder which I have not seen from Harden as of yet...maybe at some point he will get there but he isnt there now.

You dont have to be David Stern to know that defensive minded teams have a bigger chance of winning. Im not saying Im smarter then anyone on this board Im saying that facts are facts many teams have tried putting nothing but offensive minded teams out there and hey they look good during the season and fall off in the playoffs every time!

so like blade_ said go ahead and put Maynor, Thabo, Nick, Cole/Mullens/White and see or bench get blown out of the game against a lot of teams...

James was actually pretty good in the middle 3 games of the series, especially for being a rookie being thrust onto the big stage like that. Thabo performed like he’d never been in the playoffs before also, but he didn’t have the excuse of being a rookie.

If we're talking about the Laker series, we could also point out Durant played better D on Kobe than Thabo, but that's a small sample size. Hardern got better as the series rolled on, but once again small sample size.

I think NBA coaches in general need to quit being so protective of players getting fouls. I think we get more out of Durant as a defender if this were the case, making Thabo less crucial to our plans and making room for a guy like Harden.

James was actually pretty good in the middle 3 games of the series, especially for being a rookie being thrust onto the big stage like that. Thabo performed like he'd never been in the playoffs before also, but he didn't have the excuse of being a rookie.

@KeithThat's all I have ever said about Thabo. It's not like Harden is a swiss cheese defender like Calderon or Carmelo; he's actually pretty good. Not as good as Thabo, but not bad either. On offense, it's night and day though.

However, if you point to the LA series, you also have to point out that James was awful in that series.

@keithI think 2/10 is a little bit to low, no? But thats what I try to tell, isn't it great to have two different players on one position so we can adapt to the needs during a game? Thats why I don't think the starting spot is as important as some other people here are saying. And let's not forget, we lost against the best team in the league last year and I don't think an improved JH is the (only) key for us in order to win a series against a top 3 team.(man my english is bad)

Thabo fails to hit open shots especially open 3's. It clogs the offense, eventually for this team to maximize our talent green and thabo need to go to the bench for harden and ibaka, if we never do that we will never get far the playoffs.

mark!, I don't think Harden is the answer, do you?btw I never compared Thabo to an other player, I just think that OKC is very lucky to have a "second all NBA defensive team" type of defender for a reasonable price and a young upcoming Guard who will get better and can provide some scoring and it is not as important who's starting as who is playing in what kind of situation. Much more important IMO is our lack of Bigs...

@Mark!That's exactly the point. Anyone defending Thabo as valuable enough to warrant a long term starting position need look no further than the LA series. Our offense, Durant's especially, was absolutely murdered because we had no one but Westbrook who could score. Thabo's presence allowed the easiest defending of Durant all year. Further, he had as bad a time guarding Kobe as anyone.

Thabo is a great defender, sure, but he hasn't defended even to his own standards since the injury slowed him last year. His offensive output has been surprising at times this year, but still overall impotent.

The concept is total contribution. Thabo contributes an 8/10 on defense (since injury), but a 2/10 on offense. Harden (when playing aggressive) is a 6/10 on defense, but a 7/10 on offense. Harden adds up to more. (Obviously my numbers are made up, but they illustrate what we can obviously see)

In all the Thabo discussion, people always want to compare him to Artest, Bowen, etc. The comparison that really gets me is Artest. When Artest was Thabo's age, he pushing to average 20 pts. No one is saying Thabo isn't valuable, it's just that his offensive game is so bad that it makes the rest of the team work twice as hard to score. Artest is a great defender, like Thabo, but Artest's offensive game, career wise, is 3 or 4 times beter than Thabo.

Artest - carrer 15.2 ppg

LA Fowler...please don't post comments like that. We are all amateur hoops watchers. No need to talk down to someone.

@Dangood point on the Celtics, but:3. Right, Green SHOULD come of the bench but as we see its not happening thats why I don't think we'll let him walk btw.4. Don't you think with RW, JG and KD we haven't enough firepower in our starting unit? I think the droppoff from the starting five to the bench with Harden starting would be enormous!5. Ok with that, but even if KD and let's say Serge (who is our Starter sometimes) stay on the floor, with maybe Nick, Maynor and Thabo, this is some kind of a 1 1/2-Man-Show on the O, don't you think?

I'm ok with you saying that Harden improoved his D but would you like him to guard Kobe or Wade? I don't, neither would I want KD to guard the best 2 on the other Team so I'm very happy with Thabo taking care of this dutys and chip in some points here and there.again, no offense to you but IMO the question about the starting spot is not our biggest problem.

I'm okay with either Thabo or James starting. No big deal to me. I'm more concerned about the frontcourt. But I do believe Thabo is the defensive leader of this group. Thabo really changed the team when he joined in early '09.

@L.A. FowlerLook, I feel like I've addressed these points already so I'll just repost from my original comment. I also don't want to get into name-calling or anything like that, I just think that logic supports starting Harden over Thabo.

"if you think for one second that defense isnt the reason they won most of their games last year then your fool for that"

Besides the fact that Thabo is worse on offense than Artest, the Thunder have a more pressing need for offense in the starting lineup – the only capable three point shooter is Durant and the only consistent offensive options are Westbrook and Durant* I will expound upon this a little. Great defensive teams are built on strong defensive systems - Ray Allen was a sieve on defense before coming to the Celtics but on the Celtics became a capable defender. Last year, the Thunder (for half the season anyway) had a strong defensive system. In these systems, strong individual defenders are helpful, but not absolutely necessary. Tony Allen was the best individual defender for the Celtics last year (and one of the best in the league in my opinion), but they let him go in the offseason. Why? The Celtics lost in the finals because of a lack of offense, not defense. Even without Tony, the Celtics defense system remains strong and impact. His offensive ineffectiveness often outweighed the defensive value he brought to the floor, especially against teams without great individual defenders. While certain individual players can act as the bedrock of defensive systems (think KG or Dwight) 1. those players are centers or PFs and 2. Thabo is not the foundation for the Thunders defensive system. For the Thunder to play to their talent level, they need the offense Harden can provide in the starting lineup.

Thabo is also a liability on the floor against teams that don’t have dominant shooting guards or small forwards in need of guarding – Artest can at least provide some offensive value in those situations

Harden has also shown promise on the defensive end and is not a liability in any case** Why does this keep getting overlooked? Harden is not the Steve Nash of shooting guards - he is at least competent and has shown some promise to be better on this end in the future.

most importantly, Harden needs to develop right for this team to take the next step to title contention.

"This isnt 2K11 DAN you cant just put a bunch of shooters on the court and think you are going to be successful"Artest (assuming no change from last year) has some value as an offensive player - Thabo can do neither and remains a liability on offense.

Besides the fact that Thabo is worse on offense than Artest, the Thunder have a more pressing need for offense in the starting lineup – the only capable three point shooter is Durant and the only consistent offensive options are Westbrook and Durant

Thabo is also a liability on the floor against teams that don’t have dominant shooting guards or small forwards in need of guarding – Artest can at least provide some offensive value in those situations

most importantly, Harden needs to develop right for this team to take the next step to title contention.

Harden has also shown promise on the defensive end and is not a liability in any case**

@BladeI feel like this is the most valid argument made in favor of starting Thabo. However -1. It's affecting Harden's confidence detrimentally and he is crucial for long term success.2. Thabo is getting alot more minutes than Harden.3. JG should be coming off the bench, not Harden. Ibaka is a better power forward, Jeff Green is a free agent next year, Jeff Green is playing out of position, KD probably needs more rest.4.It is more important to make sure the starting unit that plays the most minutes on the floor has a competent offense before worrying about the second unit.5. I don't think it's that often that 5 bench players are on the floor at once. Usually at least 1-2 starters are out their with them.

I'm getting the point of LA Fowler and I tend to agree with him. Just one question: why is it so important to everybody that Harden is starting? Don't you guys think its a blessing for the team to have possibilitys on the SG position? I mean IF thabo is such a liability on offense, do you want him on the floor with the second unit with Nick, Maynor, and Cole/Mullens/White? Who'll do the scoring of this bunch? Don't you think it is great to have an offensive minded guy in Harden off the bench so he can step up while RW, KD and JG resting? I think the starting spot is way overrated, you need 7, 8, 9 good players to win games, not 5. Most of the really good teams have a good scorer off the benche (Odom, Manu, Terry..), why can't Harden be this player for us? And the Duo of JH and TS gives us two great possibilitys to react during the course of the game and especially when it matters the most: at the end of Games!

A local pastor named Scott Williams has a blog. Evidently he's a Thunder fan as well and actually led the prayer invocation at the Thunder-Cavs game. Before the game he got a nice pic of his kids with Kevin Durant (we know KD does this all the time).

His site is here: www.bigisthenewsmall.com/

In addition to the nice pic of Kevin posing with his boys, he has a video of KFOR-TV's piece on Robert Yanders and his half-court shot.

.....

P.S. If you scroll down, there is a hilarious video he took of another pastor that does an incredible, spot-on impersonation of Bob Stoops speaking at a press conference.

Please stop acting like you're a basketball genius and talking down to people on this board.

You're welcome to have your own opinion, disagree with other people's opinions and defend your position. Those are great things and part of what makes this blog awesome.

But when you talk down to people, especially the way you're doing so, it makes it difficult to take anything else you say seriously, regardless of how valuable your insight might be in spite of your presentation.

This isnt 2K11 DAN you cant just put a bunch of shooters on the court and think you are going to be successful again teams like Golden State always have a lot of offense Suns always had a lot of offense and it never works. Spurs, Lakers, Boston the current MAvs all had defense that thats what wins consistantly.

Dan :@L.A. FowlerAnthony Parker started for a 61 win Cavs team last year. Dereck Fisher for a Championship Lakers team. Nenad Krstic for a 50 win Thunder team. Starting does not equate to talent.

Dan you have just confirmed that you are a casual Thunder fan and thats okay to be one but dont confuse the fact that Thabo was the best and most consistant defender on the Thunder last year and if you think for one second that defense isnt the reason they won most of their games last year then your fool for that. One of the best road teams because of defense The thunder signed him for an extention because of defense, Kobe commented on Thabo and playing the thunder because of his defense. You are digging yourself into a whole. Watch a few games and maybe if you pay close enough attention you too will see why he is so important.

I gotta give Thabo credit. Sure, no one is gonna game plan for the guy, but I really don't consider him anywhere near as much of a liability on offense as he has been in the past. When called upon, he has been answering lately, showing more confidence on those wide open looks he gets and even attacking the basket from time to time. If Harden continues to play like that, of course he becomes a serious player for at the very least starter's minutes, if not starting period. But he's got to do it on a consistent basis before I consider taking Thabo out of the starting lineup. Skill for skill, he may not be a better player than Harden, but at this point in time, he's a better fit to me still in the starting lineup.

....With that I leave this convo looking for someone who has actually watched most of the thunders games.... PG/SG/SF Thabo has been tasked with at times.. He is a different type of defender then Ron but he is still a defender and Thabo has drvien to the Rim much more this year then last year converting and scoring a lot more offensively..see Newsok Article last friday...

But whatever your right you know more then Presti about Thabos accomplishments.. bench him and start Harden. Thabo is as important to the 50 wins and the current years wins as most of the Thunder roster.